ACTING OAK HILL POLICE CHIEF ADMITS PAST COCAINE USE

By her own admission, Diane Young used cocaine some 100 times in the
mid-1980s and smoked a little marijuana on a few occasions.

She never got caught.

But something that happened more than two decades ago might not be a
big deal except for two facts: Young is acting chief of the Oak Hill
Police Department, and she is applying to make the appointment permanent.

Young was starkly honest about her past drug use when she applied to
be a police officer with the Volusia County agency in 2002 and it
didn't keep her from being hired then.

The application asked if she had ever "possessed sold, used or tried
drugs" and, if so, directed her to list all illegal drugs used.

Young checked the "yes" box and then listed marijuana and
cocaine.

She indicated that she'd smoked marijuana once in the mid-1970s and
twice in 1986. But when it came to the cocaine use, she said it
occurred between 1984 and 1986 and as the number of times she used it,
Young wrote: "100?"

Young did not return a call for comment.

Gus Beckstrom, Oak Hill's police chief in Oak Hill when Young was
hired, did not return e-mails or voice messages left at his office..

Oak Hill Police Chief Guy Grasso was injured in a car crash in August
and later went on 12 weeks of family medical leave that expires Jan.
25.

Young, 56, was placed in charge of the department Nov. 9, although the
Oak Hill City Commission didn't make it official until Nov. 23, City
Clerk Virginia S. Haas said.

Because the city's police chief is also a working officer, it has to
be determined if Grasso will be able to come back to work, City
Commissioner Bill Marcello said. He may also be covered under Worker's
Compensation insurance, Marcello said.

"We need to be fair to our police chief," he said.

While Grasso's future is being determined, the city is looking to name
an interim chief and later look for a permanent leader for the agency,
if needed. Young is one of six applicants.

Oak Hill, named for its abundance of trees, is the southern-most city
in southwest Volusia County. The most recent estimate, in 2004, placed
it's population at about 1,455. It has five sworn police right now,
including Young, but has two other position, Grasso and a sergeant who
are both on leave.

Marcello is one of Young's staunchest supporters and believes someone
has dredged up the drug-use information from the 2002 application to
possibly sway the commission's decision.

He called Young's past drug use "a dead issue before it
started."

The fact that Young listed the drug use on the application showed "she
wanted to by upfront and truthful," Marcello said. "She is honest and
truthful and she is caring."

Marcello said Young gets along great with both the other officers in
the department and the citizens of Oak Hill. "She made herself a
fabulous reputation with the residents," he said, pointing out she has
led the city's food and toy drives with great results.

Beckstrom is program manager and an adjunct professor at the police
academy at Seminole State College of Florida in Sanford, the same
academy Young attended when the school was called Seminole Community
College.

City commissioners don't plan to select an interim police chief until
at least January, with the timing in part dictated by Grasso's ability
to return, Marcello said.

But it may be a topic of discussion when the City Commission meets at
6 p.m. Monday, Marcello said. It won't be an agenda it, but it may
come up, he said.